¹⁄48

Stringbag: Fairey Swordfish Mk.1

history

The Fairey Swordfish was created in response to a Greek Naval Air Service requirement for a replacement for its Fairey IIIF aircraft currently in service. As Greek interest waned, Fairey proposed the design to the Air Ministry for use in the Fleet Air Arm. The Swordfish entered Fleet Air Arm service in 1936 and by 1939 equipped 13 RNAS Squadrons, as well as 3 flights of float equipped aircraft for use off warships equipped with catapults in the gunnery spotting role. Aircrews loved the Swordfish for its docile handling, and its amazing ability to carry weaponry. The nickname 'Stringbag' comes from the mesh shopping bags popular with British housewives of the day, which could expand to carry prodigious loads. You could put anything you wanted into a stringbag, and it would carry it. So it was with the Swordfish.

It is interesting to compare the Swordfish with its near contemporary, the American Douglas Devastator, the Douglas aircraft being an all metal monoplane with enclosed cockpits, much more powerful engine and a top speed 67 Mph faster. The rapid pace of technical development made both aircraft obsolete before the war began yet while the Devastator quickly faded into obscurity, the Swordfish served until the end of the war, even outlasting its ostensible replacement, the Fairey Albacore.

the model

Ryszard built Tamiya's kit out of the box, with the addition of Tamiya's etched bracing wire set. Ryszard reports that the etch is not for beginners, but with a little care is straightforward to use and enhances the look of the model greatly.

Ryszard's model represents a Swordfish Mk.I floatplane of No. 701 Sqn, RNAS in its pre-war marking scheme.